Theater Review by Marcina Zaccaria . . . .
In honor of Veteran’s Day, the stage was set at Carnegie Hall for November 1918: The Great War and The Great Gatsby. Katie Couric announced this exciting evening of performance with Music Supervisor and Conductor Ian Weinberger leading the impressive Orchestra at Saint Luke’s.
Singers Kristolyn Lloyd (Dear Evan Hansen), Kate Rockwell (Mean Girls), Nicholas Rodriguez (Company), and Daniel Yearwood (Sweeney Todd) were in great voice. They performed in front of the 58-piece orchestra with historical photos and other illustrated images behind them. Bits of jazz brought us back to a time at Carnegie Hall when musicians like James Reese Europe invited Black Music School participants to perform. After escaping the Jim Crow South, James Reese Europe set the tone for jazz to be brought to New York City and France. The song selections kept a New Yorker hungry for musicology and memory, and the Orchestra of Saint Luke’s sounded strongest with bass drums and beautiful violins, setting a smooth undertone for narration from historian and creator John Monsky.
John Monsky spoke about how his Uncle Sol Monsky was right there that day, welcoming music by Irving Berlin and others. Songs like “What Will I Do?” and “Oh, How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning/ Kitchen Police (Poor Little Me)” sounded better than ever on stage. We know that the world of Jay Gatsby, an extraordinarily rich businessman, was shaped by WWI. Passages from The Great Gatsby, spoken by John Monsky, were carefree, with glorious projections of Jay Gatsby’s mansion. Color and form were particularly impressive in the presentation of the image of the glasses of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg.
Is music really an agent for change? This question from the stage resounded through the concert hall. George M. Cohan’s “Over There” kept the toes tapping, creating a little march to keep the evening flowing. Meanwhile, the extravagant world of Jay Gatsby drove the senses beyond grief and heartache, opening our minds to new pathways for building American dreams. Through the atrocities of violence and nations being taken by other nations, these songs have led us to survive. With music, brilliantly sung by Stephanie Jae Park (Hamilton), it was affirmed that we can get through anything.
As the war in the Ukraine persists and the war in Israel rages on, this reviewer found that Carnegie Hall presented a safe ground for audience members to encounter our fears and concerns about what may lie ahead. Surrounding Veteran’s Day, we recognized the contribution of our soldiers who fought in the Great War and the music that saw their tireless flight to the finish.
November 1918: The Great War and The Great Gatsby was performed on November 8 at The Stern Auditorium/ Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall.
Photos: Jenny Anderson
